Editor’s Note: This article is one in a series of blog posts from first-year faculty members with their best advice to incoming law students on how to spend their summer before entering law school. To see every piece of advice in one document, click here.

I think it’s useful to think of the first semester of law school as a trip to a new place where you know only a little bit of the language and a few people (if any). It will be exciting and take up most of your time and energy, both physical and psychological. To prepare, it is useful to do a few things.

First, it’s a good idea to put your affairs in order. Get your house organized, your doctors’ appointments done, and reconnect with that friend you have been meaning to call. I always feel better embarking on a journey when I know things are organized at home. Second, do whatever will make you feel relaxed and prepared for your first day. For some people this means reading a bunch of books on what law school will be like. For me, it meant spending time relaxing and hanging out with family and friends in the weeks before school started.

“I don’t recommend studying. You will have plenty of that to do once you get to law school and anything you would do beforehand will likely not be sufficiently tailored to your courses to be useful.”

Finally, I suggest putting in place some strategies for making sure you are able to relax if you find the first semester stressful, as many law students do. I am a big fan of a regular meditation/yoga practice for this purpose. For others, going to the gym, gardening, or doing some creative activity helps to center them and keep their mind from worrying. Having something you do other than study (and preferably with people who are not themselves thinking/worrying about law school) is important to many first semester law students. So if you don’t do something regularly that you find relaxing and centering, this summer is a good time to start!